Bottle-seal.



No. 657,067. Patented Aug. 28, I900. A. N. HUUGHTUN.

BOTTLE SEAL.

(Application filed. Oct. 23, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Wzmwses.

. fiorm of the invention.

UNKTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED N. IIOUGIITON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOTTLE-SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 657,067, dated August28, 1900.

Application filed October 23, 1899.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED N. HOUGHTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at No. 1 \Vestcott street, Dorchester district, Boston, in thecounty of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Bottle-Seals, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is the construotion of an improved meanswhereby it will be impossible for a bottle to be unsealed and emptied ofits contents without rendering such bottle a permanent witness thereof,in such manner preventing any unauthorized parties from rescaling andpalming off as genuine the refilled contents of the same bottle.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1is a side elevation of my improved bottle-seal. Fig. 2 is a centralvertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the metalcollar forming the principal part of the device. Fig. 4c is a centralvertical section of a slightly-modified Fig. 5 is a side elevation ofanother modified form. Fig. 6 is a central vertical section of said lastmodification, and Fig. 7 is a central vertical section of still anothermodification.

In said drawings, 1 indicates the upper extremity of a bottle, jug, orsimilar receptacle to which I may wish to apply my invention.

20 is the stopper.

2 is a shoulder formed a short distance below the mouth of the bottle,and 3 represents slight projections integral with thebottleneck. I

at is a collar or band, preferably of metal and formed near its loweredge with the series of openings 5, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3. Theobject of said openings is to receive the projections 3, and therebyretain said collar in place about the mouth of the bottle. I prefertoform the bottle originally without said projections, inserting thebottleneck into the collar when the glass is still hot or plastic, or inthe case of earthenware before the same is baked. Immediately after thecollar has been thus applied and before the glass can have time toharden a suitable tool is inserted within the bottle-neck and theprojections 3 are formed, as shown.

Serial No. 734,477. (No model.)

plastic material composing the same forced outward and through saidopenings until the The bottie-neck being now suitably finished with theforming-tool adapted for such purpose, the bottle is allowed to hardenand is ready to be passed on to the filler.

When the bottle has been filled with the contents for which it isdesigned, a cork 20 is inserted and the cap 10 introduced within theprojecting portion of the collar 4, as shown. Instead of a cork thestopper may be formed of the same material as the cap and integraltherewith, as shown in Fig. 4,

the cork stopper being illustrated in Fig. 2.

Said cap 10 has formed in its periphery an annular groove 11, thepurpose of which is to receive the indentations 9, which are formed andimpressed therein after the said cap has been inserted within thecollar. Said indentations are formed by pressing a conicalpointed toolagainst the collar at a series of points immediately over the groove 11or in any other suitable manner, the object of said indentations beingto prevent the withdrawal of said cap from said collar.

When the collar l is formed with quite thin walls, it is easy for therecipient of the bottie-to run a knife-edge through and about the collaralong a line indicating the proper place on its surface, therebysevering the collar and permitting its upper section and the capcontained therein to be removed and the stopper and contents to bewithdrawn. I prefer, however, to have the collar formed from heavier andstronger material and to out several slits or openings 6 in its wallsnear the mouth of the bottle, as shown in Fig. 2, said slits or openingsbeing made near enough to each other to leave slender junctures 7,uniting the upper and lower portions of the collar. In order to open thebottle when the collar is thus arranged, all that is necessary to bedone is to insert a knifeblade, screw-driver, or other suitableinstrument into the slits or openings 6 and by either a prying orcutting action to sever the junctures 7, and so permit the removal ofthe collar section and cap. This latter construction of the collar ispreferable over that previously described, because of its moreconvenient and easier method of opening, and, further,

the more fragile nature of the collar-made so by the slenderness of thejunctures-renders tampering with the bottle thus sealed a much moredifficult thing to do without detection.

Although I have shown the openings 5in the collar 4 as circular in form,they can equally well be made in the shape of alphabetic characters,numerals, or in any ornamental outline.

The modificationillustrated in Fig. 4 dif trance ofv a sharp edgebetween said cap and fers from that above described simply in having thecap and the stopper made inte gral one with the other. In such caseglass, porcelain, metal, or other hard material can be used for saidparts; but the harder mate'- rials are preferable, because rendering itfarmore difficult to bore through the cap and stopper, and therebyremove the contents and refill and reseal it without detection.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the collar 4. is shown introduced into the material ofthe bottle-neck instead of being encircled about the exterior of thebottle-neck. It is otherwisesubstantially like the constructionspreviously described, except that the cap 10 is somewhat lower and thecollar shorter. In this construction the openings 5 receive the glass orother material composing the bottle and serve to prevent the withdrawalof the collar in the same manner as previously set forth.

A further modification is that illustrated in Fig. 7, in which the cap10 is not grooved and the collar indented therein; but the said cap ismade comparatively thin and the upper edge of the collar turned inwardand down against the top of the said cap. I still further modify thedevice by substituting for the cork a stopper comprising acomparatively-thin disk of rubber or similar compressible suitablematerial.

The advantage in having the openings 5 cut entirely through the walls ofthe collar at instead of being a series of internal cavities or anannular internal groove is as follows: With the groove it would becomparatively easy after the original collar and contents 'had beenremoved to refill the bottle and fas ten the cap back in place by meansof some other collar forced over the bottle-mouth in such a manner asnot to reveal its fraudulent character. So, also, if the collarwereformed with simple internal recesses designed to be entered by nodularprojections on the bottleneck. Further, such annular or nodular pro=jections would appear as simple ornaments about the neck which thecustomer would hardly observe were the bottle corked in the customaryfashion and so fail to" suspect its fraudulent character. In myconstruction, on the other hand, it would be practically impossible toprythe collar entirely away from about the bottleneck without mutilatheindentations 'll of the collar.

tures-or mu tilations would indicate atampering with: the bottle, andhence suggest the suspicious or fraudulent nature of the bottlescontents. If the attempt were made to secure some form of metal collarover the projections, the height and shape of the outer surface wouldefi'ectually prevent any such collar from being fitted thereon orreplacing any similar collar.

The object of the shoulder 12 at the upper edge of the cap 10 is tobetter prevent the enthe collar and. a possible pressing outward ofpossible to do this, the cap 10 could then be easily removed, and afterthe bottle had been emptied and refilled such cap could then be returnedand the collar-walls again impressed into the groove of the cap. Theshoulder 2 serves a similar purpose, but in addition supports the collarwhile it is being secured in place.

As shown in Figs. 2, 4, 6, and 7, I usually so form the cap 10 or theextreme edge of the bottle-mouth as to leave a space in line with theslits or openings 6 for the reception of the knife-edge, screw-driver,or other instrument used in prying the collar in two, as previouslydescribed. A

Although I have described the collar 4. as being made to securely holdthe cap 10 by means of the indentations 9, I do not restrict myselfthereto, as such indentations can be made to overlap each other, andthereby form a groove conforming to the groove 11 in the cap.

What I claim as my invention, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, isas follows, to

wit:

1. The combination with a container adapted to be made partially soft orductile, of the annular metallic band applied about the neck of thesame" with its upper section extended above the mouth thereof; and astopper closing said month; said band being adapted to be-suitably bentat certain parts and to thereby lock said stopper in place; and saidcontainer-neck being intimately secured to said band by being forciblyexpanded when in its temporary soft condition into permanent engagementwith said band, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the container, of the annular metallic bandhaving the openings therein whereby the material eomposin g thecontainer can be made when plastic to permanently secure the band inplace, said band having its upper section extended above the mouth ofthe container a stopper closing said mouth; and means for enabling saidextended upper section of the band to lock said stopper in place,substantially as described.

3. The combination with a bottle, of a metallic band having openingswhereby the material composing the bottle-neck can be made when plasticto permanently secure the Were it band in place, said band having itsupper edge extended above the bottle-mouth; a stopper introduced throughsaid upper part of the band and adapted to close the bottlemou th; andmeans for enabling said extended band edge to lock said stopper inplace, said band being partially severed above said mouth, substantiallyas described.

4:. The combination with a bottle, of an annular metal band firmlysecured to the bottle when the latter is plastic, and having a portionthereof projecting above the bottlemouth and partially severed near suchpoint; a stopper introduced through the upper end of said band andclosing the bottle-mouth; and means for locking said stopper in place byan inward bend of said band, substantially as described.

5. In a bottle-seal, the combination with the bottle, of a thin metalannular collar or band having a portion thereof projecting above themouth of said bottle and permanently secured to the latter, said collaror band being partially severed immediately above said bottle-mouth, astopper inserted into the bottle-mouth through said collar or band, acap covering said stopper and means whereby the projecting upper part ofsaid collar or band is adapted to lock said cap in place, substantiallyas set forth.

6. Ina bottle'seal, the combination with the bottle, of a thin metalannular collar or band having a portion thereof projecting above themouth of said bottle and permanently secured to the latter, said collaror band being partially severed immediately above the bottle-mouth, astopper inserted into the bottle-mouth through said collar or band, acap covering said stopper and having the annular groove, and means forenabling the said projecting portion of said collar or band to engagesaid groove and lock said cap in place, substantially as set forth.

7. In a bottle-seal, the combination with the bottle, of a thin metalannular collar or band having a portion thereof projecting above themouth of said bottle and permanently secured to the latter, said collaror band being partially severed immediately above the bottle-mouth, astopper inserted into the bottle-mouth through said collar or band andhaving the annular groove and the flange or shoulder jutting over theedge of said collar or band, and means for forcing said collar or bandinto said groove, substantially as set forth.

8. In a bottle-seal, the combination with the bottle, of the sheet-metalannular collar or band projecting above the bottle-mouth and having theseries of openings into which the material composing the bottle-neck isforced when plastic, the stopper introd uced into said bottle-mouththrough the upper portion of said collar or band, the cap fitting uponsaid stopper, and means for enabling the upper part of said collar orband to lock said cap in place, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention I have hereunto setmyhand this 19th day of October, 1899.

ALFRED N. IIOUGIITON.

Witnesses:

A. B. UPHAM, EDWARD O. Barns.

